r^-  CC 


Question 

Did 

Sit  Francis  Drake 
Land  on 
Any  Part  of 
the 

Oregon 
Coast 


QUESTION 

Did  Sir  Francis  Drake  land 

on  any  part  of  the 

Oregon  Coast? 


R.  M.  BRERETON,  C.  E. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  J.   K.  GILL  COMPANY 
PORTLAND, OREGON 


ElVb 


INTRODUCTION 


The  old  and  new  settlers  in  rich  and  beautiful  Oregon  may 
like  to  learn  the  facts  as  known  about  Sir  Francis  Drake's  famous 
voyage  off  the  coasts  of  California  and  Oregon  in  1579.  The 
popular  idea  has  prevailed  among  many  Oregonians  that  Drake 
was  the  first  to  make  a  landing  on  the  coast  of  Oregon,  and  to 
see  and  note  its  natural  resources,  between  the  parallels  of 
North  Latitudes  42  deg.  and  48  deg.  Some  of  them  think  he 
made  his  landing  either  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chetco  River,  in 
Curry  County,  or  at  Port  Orford,  in  Coos  County.  In  this  little 
tract  will  be  found  extracts  made  from  all  the  oldest  and  best 
authorities  on  the  subject:  these  I  have  collected  from  the  orig- 
inal documents  existing  in  the  archives  of  the  British  Museum 
in  London ;  and  the  three  maps  given  are  facsimiles  of  those 
most  ancient  ones  found  therein.  I  have  also  given  extracts 
from  the  latest  modern  writers  on  the  subject. 
J^Brake  died  in  January,  1596  (old  style),  so  that  his  co-tem- 
porary recorders  of  his  expedition  to  the  Pacific  Coast  in  1579 
were  his  cousin  John  and  his  nephew  Francis  Drake ;  his  chap- 
lain, Francis  Fletcher,  who  accompanied  him  thioughout  the 
voyage ;  Richard  Hakluyt,  the  great  historian  of  English  travels 
by  sea  and  land ;  Francis  Pretty ;  Admiral  Robert  Dudley,  son 
of  Queen  Elizabeth's  favorite  Earl  of  Leicester,  who  in  his 
Arcano  del  Mare  (1647)  says  ne  nad  his  data  for  his  map  from 
Drake  himself;  Jodocus  Hondius,  the  great  engraver  of  that 
period ;  William  Camden,  the  noted  and  most  reliable  historian 
and  antiquary ;  Theodore  de  Bry,  the  famous  engraver  and 
printer  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main ;  Captain  John  Davis  (1550- 
1605),  the  great  navigator  of  the  North  Atlantic  in  search  of  a 
northwest  passage  to  India;  Admiral  Sir  William  Monson 
(1569-1643),  the  author  of  several  naval  tracts  of  that  period; 
but  which  were  not  published  till  1702;  Peter  Heylin  (1600- 

3 


260143 


1662),  in  his  Cosmography;  Johannes  de  Laet  (died  1649),  tne 
noted  Dutch  writer,  in  his  general  history  of  America ;  and 
John  Ogilby  (1600-1676),  the  celebrated  Scotch  compiler  of 
Atlasses. 

Among  later  writers  of  Drake's  voyage  in  the  Pacific  Ocean 
were  Captain  James  Burney  (1750-1821),  who  sailed  with  Cap- 
tain James  Cook  in  the  Resolution  in  1776;  and  John  Barrow, 
who  in  1765  wrote  his  History  of  Discoveries,  which  is  con- 
sidered the  standard  work  on  Drake's  voyages. 

Drake's  own  vessel  of  100  tons,  in  which  he  completed  his 
famous  voyage  around  the  world,  which  made  him  the  first  ad- 
miral of  any  nation  to  accomplish  in  his  own  ship  that  notable 
achievement,  was  called  the  Pelican  when  he  sailed  from  Ply- 
mouth, the  I3th  of  December,  1577:  this  name  he  changed  to 
that  of  the  Golden  Hind  when  he  entered  the  Straits  of  Magellan 
on  the  2oth  of  August,  1578:  this  he  did  in  honor  of  his  patron 
and  friend,  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  then  Lord  Chancellor  of 
England,  whose  family  crest  was  a  Golden  Hind.  Queen  Eliz- 
abeth nicknamed  her  Chancellor,  "the  dancing  Chancellor,"  be- 
cause he  was  such  a  graceful  performer  in  that  line. 

Some  California  and  Oregon  authorities  have  surmised  that 
the  name  Pelican  given  to  the  bay  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chetco 
River  was  derived  from  that  of  Drake's  vessel ;  but  she  was 
known  as  the  Golden  Hind  at  that  period. 

From  a  careful  study  of  the  extracts  herein  given  I  have 
been  unable  to  find  any  reliable  evidence  to  show  that  Drake  ever 
landed  anywhere  on  the  Oregon  coast.  The  only  landing  place 
mentioned  was  in  latitude  38  deg.  or  thereabouts,  the  exact  spot 
is  still  a  matter  in  dispute  by  various  modern  writers.  In  fact, 
the  principal  narrative  of  the  voyage  by  Francis  Pretty,  pub- 
lished in  Hakluyt's  Voyages,  1589,  (upon  which  most  of  the 
later  accounts  are  based)  says  distinctly  "we  drew  back  again 
without  landing,  till  we  came  within  38  degrees  towards  the 
line."  The  accompanying  Silver  Map  (1581)  shows  that  Drake 
coasted  to  a  higher  latitude,  but  did  not  land  anywhere.  Francis 
Drake,  Drake's  nephew,  makes  no  mention  of  any  landing  on 
the  Oregon  coast.  Camden,  one  of  the  most  reliable  historians, 
does  not  mention  it,  nor  does  De  Bry,  the  best  engraver  and 
historian  in  Europe  of  that  period.  Monsieur  Duflot  de  Mofras 

4 


varies  slightly  in  the  latitudes  reached,  but  agrees  in  other  re- 
spects. Among  quite  modern  students,  Greenhow  states  that  no 
information  concerning  the  northwest  coast  of  America  has  de- 
scended from  the  great  navigator  himself. 

My  agent  in  London,  Mr.  T.  Chubb,  of  the  Map  Depart- 
ment of  the  British  Museum,  writes  me  that  he  has  come  across 
in  the  MSS.  Department  of  the  British  Museum,  a  letter  from 
De  Mendoza,  the  Spanish  Ambassador  in  London,  to  King 
Philip  of  Spain,  dated  i6th  October,  1580,  in  which  it  states 
"Drake  has  given  the  Queen  (Elizabeth)  a  diary  of  every  thing 
that  happened  during  the  three  years  he  waiT~a"way." 

Mr.  Chubb  informs  me  he  has  endeavored  to  trace  the  where- \ 
abouts  of  this  diary;  he  wrote  to  the  Librarian  at  Windsor 
Castle  about  it;  who  in  reply  states  that  it  is  not  in  the  Royal 
Collection,  and  he  does  not  know  where  it  can  be  found.  He 
has  also  applied  to  the  Public  Record  Office,  but  there  is  no 
record  of  it  there.  He  has  also  written  to  the  editor  of  "Notes 
and  Queries,"  and  if  any  information  comes  from  that  source 
about  it  he  will  let  me  know. 

The  maps  (3)  are  facsimiles  of  the  early  maps  now  in  the 
British  Museum,  which  I  have  had  reproduced  for  this  tract 
by  Hicks-Chatten  &  Co.,  of  Portland. 

No.  i  is  a  portion  of  Hondius  map,  showing  Drake's  route, 
the  latitude  reached,  and  the  bay  in  which  he  refitted  his  ship. 

No.  2  shows  that  Drake  reached  42  deg.,  but  does  not  denote 
a  landing  place. 

No.  3  indicates  the  bays  where  Drake  tried  to  find  a  landing 
spot. 

In  Professor  George  Davidson's  paper  on  Drake's  landing 
point  there  is  a  note  that  Drake  gave  the  Indians  an  English 
dog,  some  pigs  and  seeds  of  several  kinds  of  grain,  which  they 
planted.  If  this  is  correct,  the  first  English  grain  was  sown  in 
North  America  in  1579;  now  behold  the  enormous  tonnage  Cali- 
fornia and  Oregon  are  yearly  sending  to  the  mother  country. 

Captain  Bartholomew  Gosnold's  expedition  to  New  England 
in  1602  (23  years  later)  planted  English  grain  seed  on  Cutty- 
hunk  Island,  off  the  New  Bedford  Coast,  Mass.  This  fact  is 
reported  by  my  kinsman,  John  Brereton,  the  historian  of  this 

5 


expedition,  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  in  1602.  I  have  presented  a 
facsimile,  in  black  letter,  of  this  report  to  the  Portland  Public 
Library. 

I  trust  this  brief  collection  of  facts  in  regard  to  Drake's 
voyage  along  the  coasts  of  California  and  Oregon,  and  the  only 
one  landing  made  by  him,  may  prove  interesting  and  instructive 
to  all  Oregonians  who  are,  or  may  become,  desirous  of  such 
reliable  information.  Though  Oregonians  may  not  claim  Drake 
as  the  first  discoverer  of  Oregon,  they  may  appreciate  the  epitaph 
on  his  ocean-grave,  which  was  written  by  a  poet  of  the  seven- 
teenth century : 

"The  waves  became  his  winding  sheet ;  the  waters  were  his  tomb ; 
But  for  his  fame,  the  ocean  sea  was  not  sufficient  room." 

ROBERT  MAITLAND  BRERETON,  C.  E. 


Woodstock,  Oregon,  June,  1907. 


5* 


Cartd  particokrc  dello  stretto  di 
lezo  fta  lAmenca  el'Isok  lezo 


Coniiic 


XXXI/I 


om  DeH'Awflno  dif  /law  ai 
Dudleo  Dwca  di  Norfwmlri'a  e  Confe  A 
Warvicfi  Ulri  Sti.    1646-1647. 


The  Famous  Voyage  of  Sir  Francis  Drake 
in  the  South  Sea,  and  There  Hence 
About  the  Whole  Globe  of  the  Earth, 
Begun  in  the  Yeere  of  Our  Lord,  1577. 


From  "The  Principal!  Navigations  of  the  English  Nation,  by 
Richard  Hakluyt.  (page  643)  London,, 


"The  5th  day  of  June,  being  in  42  degrees  towards  the  pole 
Arctike,  we  founde  the  aire  so  colde,  that  our  men  being  gree- 
vously  pinched  with  the  same,  complained  of  the  extremitie 
thereof,  and  the  further  we  went,  the  more  the  colde  increased 
upon  us.  Whereupon  we  thought  it  best  for  that  time  to  seeke 
the  land,  and  did  so,  finding  it  not  mountainous  but  lowe  plaine 
land,  clad  and  covered  over  with  snowe,  so  that  we  drewe  back 
againe  uithout  landing,  till  we  came  within  38  degrees  towards 
the  line.  In  which  height  it  pleased  God  to  send  us  into  a  faire 
and  good  baye,  with  a  good  wind  to  enter  the  same." 

(Page  440)  "In  this  bay  wee  ankered  the  seventeenth  of 
June,  and  the  people  of  the  countery,  having  their  houses  close 
by  the  waters  side,  shewed  themselves  unto  us,  and  sent  a  present 
to  our  Generall." 

(Note.  At  page  737  of  the  same  Vol.  3  is  another  account 
from  which  the  above  seems  to  have  been  taken.  A  similar  ac- 
count to  the  above  occurs  in  "Hakluytus  Posthumus,  or  Purchas 
his  Pilgrimes,"  chap,  iii,  p.  135.) 

10 


THE  SILVER  MAP  OF  THE  WORLD  (1581?). 

A    contemporary   medallion    commemorative    of    Drake's    Great 
Voyage,  1577-80. 

By  Miller  Christy,  London,  1900. 

(This  map  is  70  millimetres  (about  2  4-5ths  of  an  inch)  in  diam- 
eter. A  dotted  line,  against  which  ships  in  full  sail  and  several 
legends  are  placed,  indicates  the  route  followed  by  Drake.  The 
author  of  the  book  assumes  the  map  to  have  been  produced  in  1581, 
the  year  following  that  of  Drake's  return.  Only  three  copies  are 
known  to  exist,  two  of  them  being  in  the  British  Museum.) 

" — Drake  continued  sailing  northward — until  contrary  winds 
and  severe  cold — decided  him — to  return  home  round  the  world 
by  way  of  the  Moluccas  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  dotted 
line  on  the  map  makes  it  appear  that  he  had  reached  the  latitude 
of  about  48  deg.  N.  before  thus  turning  back — coasting  next 
southward,  in  order  to  find  a  harbor  in  which  to  refit  his  ship 
for  the  voyage  across  the  Pacific,  Drake,  in  June,  1579,  entered 
what  is  now  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco.  There  he  remained  sev- 
eral weeks,  taking  possession,  in  the  Queen's  name,  of  the  adja- 
cent country,  which  he  called  Nova  Albion — on  July  23  (1579) 
Drake  left  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco." 


Narrative  Drawn  From  Declarations  which  John 
Drake,  Englishman,  Being  a  Prisoner  in  Lima, 
Gave  of  the  Voyage  Which  his  Cousin,  Francis 
Drake,  Made  to  the  South  Sea,  Through  the 
Straights  of  Magellan  in  the  Year  1580  (?), 
Till  his  Return  to  England,  Etc.,  Before  the 
Inquisitor  at  Lima,  1581. 

" — They  then  shaped  their  course  by  northeast  and  north 
northeast  and  proceeded  1000  leagues  as  far  as  latitude  44 
deg.,  always  on  the  bowling.  Afterwards  they  tacked  about 
and  went  to  California  and  discovered  land  in  48  deg.(  ?),  where 
they  landed  in  order  to  take  up  their  quarters,  and  remained 
there  a  month  and  a  half  repairing  their  ship  and  taking  in  her  sea 
provisions  which  were  mareleones  (seals?)  and  wolves."  (From 
translated  narrative  in  "The  Western  Antiquary,"  Plymouth, 
November,  1888,  p.  83.) 


DAVIS  (JOHN). 
WORLD'S    HYDROGRAPHICAL    DESCRIPTION.      1595. 

(The  celebrated  Navigator  John  Davis,  born  at  Sandridge,  Dev- 
onshire, in  1550,  in  his  World's  Hydrographical  Description,  pub- 
lished in  1595,  asserts  that): 

"And  after  Syr  Fraunces  was  entred  into  the  South  Seas  he 
coasted  all  the  westerne  shores  of  America,  until  he  came  into 
the  septentrionall  latitude  of  forty-eight  degrees;  being  on  the 
backe  side  of  Newfoundland,  and  from  thence  shaping  his  course 
towards  Asia,  etc." 


THE  WORLD   ENCOMPASSED    BY   SIR   FRANCIS 
DRAKE. 

Carefully  collected  out  of  the  Notes  of  Master  Francis  Fletcher, 
Preacher  in  his  (Drake's)  employment,  and  divers  others  his  follow- 
ers in  the  same,  &c.  (By  Francis  Drake,  Junior).  London,  1628. 

"From  Guatulco  we  departed  the  day  following,  viz.,  Aprill 
1 6,  setting  our  course  directly  into  the  sea,  whereon  we  say  led 

12 


500  leagues  in  longitude,  to  get  a  winde :  and  between  that  and 
June  3 ;  1400  leagues  in  all,  till  we  came  into  42  deg.  of  north 
latitude,  where  in  the  night  following  we  found  such  alteration 
of  heat,  into  extreame  and  nipping  cold,  that  our  men  in  gen- 
erall  did  grievously  complaine  thereof — it  came  to  that  extremity 
in  sayling  but  2  deg.  farther  to  the  northward  in  our  course; 
though  sea-men  lack  not  good  stomaches,  yet  it  seemed  a  ques- 
tion to  many  amongst  us,  whether  their  hands  should  feed  their 
mouthes,  or  rather  keep  themselves  within  their  couverts  from 
the  pinching  cold  that  did  benumme  them.  The  land  in  that 
part  of  America,  bearing  farther  out  into  the  West,  than  we 
before  imagined,  we  were  neerer  on  it  than  we  were  aware,  and 
yet  the  neerer  still  we  came  unto  it,  the  more  extremity  of  cold 
did  seaze  upon  us.  The  5th  day  of  June,  we  were  forced  by 
contrary  winds  to  rune  in  with  the  shore,  which  we  then  first 
described ;  and  to  cast  anchor  in  a  bad  bay,  the  best  roade  we 
could  for  the  present  meete  with.  In  this  place  was  no  abiding 
for  us ;  and  to  go  further  north,  the  extremity  of  the  cold  (which 
had  now  utterly  discouraged  our  men)  would  not  permit  us; 
and  the  winds  directly  bent  against  us,  having  once  gotten  us 
under  sayl  againe,  commanded  to  the  southward  whether  we 
would  or  no.  From  the  height  of  48  deg.,  in  which  now  we 
were,  to  38,  we  found  the  land,  by  coasting  alongst  it,  to  bee  but 
low  and  reasonable  plaine;  every  hill  (whereof  we  saw  many, 
but  none  verie  high),  though  it  were  in  June,  and  the  sunne  in 
its  neerest  approach  unto  them,  being  covered  with  snow.  In 
38  deg.  30  min.  we  fell  with  a  convenient  and  fit  harborough 
(sic)  and  June  17  came  to  anchor  therein,  where  we  continued 
till  the  23d  day  of  July  following — though  we  searched  the 
coast  diligently,  even  unto  the  48  deg.  yet  found  we  not  the 
land  to  trend  so  much  as  one  point  in  any  place  towards  the 
east,  but  rather  running  on  continually  northwest,  as  if  it  went 
directly  to  meet  Asia — After  that  our  necessary  businesses  were 
well  dispatched,  our  Generall,  with  his  gentlemen  and  many  of 
his  company,  made  a  journey  up  into  the  land,  to  see  the  manner 
of  their  (Indians)  dwelling — This  country  our  Generall  named 
Albion,  and  that  for  two  causes ;  the  one  in  respect  of  the  white 
bancks  and  cliffs,  which  lie  towards  the  sea ;  the  other  that  it 
might  have  some  affinity,  even  in  name  also,  with  our  own 
country,  which  was  sometime  so  called — Before  we  went  from 

13 


thence,  our  Generall  caused  to  be  set  up  a  monument  of  our 
being  there,  as  also  of  her  maiesties  and  successors  right  and  title 
to  that  kingdome ;  namely  a  plate  of  brasse,  fast  nailed  to  a 
great  and  firme  poste ;  whereon  is  engraven  her  graces  name,  and 
the  day  and  yeare  of  our  arrivall  there — together  with  her  high- 
nesse  picture  and  armes,  in  a  piece  of  six-pence  currant  English 
monie — The  23  of  July  they  (the  Indians)  tooke  a  sorrowfull 
farewell  of  us — Not  far  without  this  harborough  (sic)  did  lie 
certaine  Hands  (we  called  them  the  Islands  of  Saint  James) — 
We  departed  again  the  day  next  following,  viz.,  July  25 — and 
our  Generall  now — bent  his  course  directly  runne  with  the  Hands 
of  the  Moluccas." 


WILLIAM    CAMDEN'S   ANNALES   RERUM    ANGLICA- 

RUM  ET  HIBERNICARUM  REGNANTE 

ELIZABETHA,   1615.     (pp.  424,  425.) 

-"Drake  then  tooke  his  way  toward  the  north,  at  the  lati- 
tude of  42  degrees,  to  discover  in  that  part  if  there  were  any 
straight,  by  which  he  might  find  a  neerer  way  to  returne ;  but 
discerning  nothing  but  darke  and  thicke  cloudes,  extremity  of 
cold  and  open  cliffes  covered  thicke  with  snow,  he  landed  at 
the  38  degree,  and  having  found  a  commodious  Rode,  remained 
there  a  certaine  time." 


THEODORE  DE  BRY'S 
HISTORIA   ANTIPODUM    ODER    NEWE    WELT. 

p.  348 "Dariiber  schiffete  er  von  dem  16  Aprilis  an,  biss  auff  den  3' 

Junii.  Befand  aber  den  5  Juni,  unter  dem  42  grad,  nach  dem  Polo  Arctico 
ein  solche  Kalte,  dass  sein  Volck  dieselbige  nicht  mehr  vertragen  kunt, 
ward  derhalben  benotiget  ein  Land  zu  suchen,  und  fand  ein  eben  Land, 
aber  weil  es  gantz  mit  schnee  bedeckt,  landete  er  daselbst  nicht  an,  sondern 
schiffte  weiter  unter  den  38.  grad  der  lini,  allda  er  ein  schonen  Meerbusen 
fand,  und  warff  sein  ancker  aus. ' ' 

p.  442.  "Den  17  Februarii  1579  befunden  sie  sich  vor  Acapulco,  in  New 
Hispanien,  von  dannen  als  sie  abgesegelt,  kamen  sie  iiber  etliche  Zeit  unter 
den  43.  Grad  der  Hohe,  da  sie  denn  eine  so  grosse  Kalte  der  Lufft  be- 
funden, dass  sie  sich  kaum  und  mit  grosser  Miihe  wiederumb  zu  erwarmen 
vermocht.  Darnach  kamen  sie  in  einen  schonen  Meer  Hafen  von  America, 
New  Albion  genannt,  unter  dem  38.  Grad." 

14 


DUFLOT  DE  MOFRAS'S 
EXPLORATION  DU  TERRITORIE  DE  L'OREGON. 

"En  1579,  apparut  sur  les  bords  occidentaux  de  la  Nouvelle  Espagne,  Sir 
Francis  Drake,  qui,  apres  avoir  deVaste"  la  cote  de  Guatemala,  courut  droit 
au  nord  jusqu'au  45e  ou  46e  de"gre". 

Sa  rapprochant  de  terre,  il  mouilla  dans  un  petite  baie  qu'il  ne  de"signe 
pas,  et  ou  il  lui  fut  impossible  de  se  maintenir.  II  se  vit  alors  contraint  de 
redescendre  jusqu'au J?8e  degre"  ou  il  jeta  1'ancre  dans  le  port  de  los  Reyes, 
situe"  entre  ceux  de  San  Francisco  et  de  la^Bodega. 

Drake  n'eut  pas  connaissance  de  ces  deux  derniers,  et  bien  qu'il  soit 
arrive"  en  California  t4ente-sept  ans  apr£s  Cabrillo.  Les  Anglais  n'ont  pas 
craint  de  donner  a  tout  le  pays  le  nom  de  Nouvelle-Albion,  cherchant 
ainsi  a  s'attribuer  1'honneur  de  la  de"couverte." 


VOYAGE  AUTOUR  DU  MONDE  PAR  MARCHANT. 

" atte"rit  a  la  Cote  Nord-Ouest  de  1'Ame'rique  a  la  hauteur    de 

48  de"gre"s,  a  laquelle  aucun  Navigateur  €spagnol  n'e"tait  encore  par- 
venu; cotoya  la  terre  en  redescent,  jnsqu'a  37  d  Ogre's,  a  38  de'gre's  %  de 
latitude,  de"couerit  le  Port,  ou  il  se*journa,  et  qui  a  conserve*  son  nom, 
imposa  celui  de  New  Albion  a  tout  le  contre"e  dont  il  pris  possession 
solennellement  au  nom  d' Elizabeth,  etc." 


THE  HISTORY  OF  OREGON   AND   CALIFORNIA. 
By  Robert  Greenhow.     1845. 

(Pp.  74,  etc.)  With  regard  to  the  harbor  on  the  North  Pacific 
side  of  America,  in  which  Drake  repaired  his  vessel,  nothing 
can  be  learned  from  the  accounts  of  his  expedition  which  have 
been  published,  except  that  it  was  situated  about  the  38th  degree 
of  latitude,  and  that  a  cluster  of  small  islets  lay  in  the  ocean,  at 
a  short  distance  from  its  mouth,  which  description  will  apply 
equally  to  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  and  to  the  Bay  of  Bodega, 
a  few  leagues  farther  north. 

As  to  the  extent  of  the  portion  of  the  northwest  coast  of 
America  seen  by  Drake,  the  accounts  differ.  Before  examining 
them,  it  should  be  first  observed,  that,  from  the  great  navigator 
himself  nothing  whatsoever  has  descended  to  us,  either  as  writ- 
ten by  him,  or  as  reported  by  others  on  his  authority,  respecting 
his  voyage  in  the  North  Pacific,  on  the  circumstances  of  which, 

15 


all  the  information  is  derived  from  two  narratives — the  one  pro- 
ceeding entirely  from  a  person  who  had  accompanied  Drake  in 
his  expedition,  and  published  in  1589,  during  the  life  of  the 
hero,  the  other  compiled  from  various  accounts,  and  not  given 
to  the  world  until  the  middle  of  the  following  century. 

In  the  first  mentioned  of  those  narratives,  called  the  famous 
voyage  from  which  the  preceding  quotations  are  made,  the 
vessel  is  represented  as  being  in  the  forty-third  degree  of  latitude 
on  the  fifth  of  June,  when  it  was  determined  to  seek  the  land; 
but  on  what  day,  or  in  what  latitude,  the  coast  was  discovered, 
is  not  stated. 

In  the  other  narrative  called  the  "World  Encompassed,"  it 
is  declared  that  the  vessel  was  in  latitude  42  degrees  on  the 
third  of  June,  and  that,  on  the  fifth  of  the  same  month,  she 
anchored  near  the  land  of  America,  in  a  "bad  bay,"  in  latitude 
of  forty-eight  degrees,  from  which  being  soon  driven  by  the 
violence  of  the  winds,  she  ran  along  the  coast,  southward,  to 
the  harbor  where  she  was  refitted. 

Thus  the  two  accounts  differ  as  to  the  vessel's  position  on 
the  fifth  of  June,  on  which  day  it  is  rendered  probable,  from 
both,  that  the  land  was  first  seen.  Hakluyt,  whc  took  great 
interest  in  all  that  related  to  the  west  coast  of  North  America,  as 
well  as  to  Drake,  gives  the  43d  parallel,  in  many  places  in  his 
works,  the  northern  limit  of  his  countrymen's  discoveries ;  and 
the  same  opinion  is  maintained  by  Camden,  Purchas,  De  Laet, 
Ogilby,  Heylin,  Locke,  Dr.  Johnson,  and  every  other  author  who 
wrote  on  the  subject  before  the  middle  of  the  last  century — 
except  the  two  following:  The  celebrated  navigator  John  Davis, 
in  his  "World's  Hydrographical  Discovery,"  published  in  1595, 
asserts  that,  "after  Sir  Francis  Drake  was  entered  into  the 
South  Sea,  he  coasted  all  the  western  shores  of  America,  until 
he  came  to  the  septentrional  latitude  of  48  degrees" ;  this  asser- 
tion, however,  carries  with  it  its  own  refutation,  as  it  is  nowhere 
else  pretended  that  Drake  saw  any  part  of  the  west  coast  of 
Amrica  between  the  I7th  degree  of  latitude  and  the  38th.  Sir 
William  Monson,  another  great  naval  authority  of  that  age,  de- 
clares in  his  Tracts,  first  printed  in  1702,  that,  "from  the  i6th 
of  April  to  the  I5th  of  June,  Drake  sailed  without  seeing  land, 

16 


and  arrived  in  48  degree,  thinking  to  find  a  passage  into  our 
seas" ;  but,  unfortunately  for  Sir  William's  consistency  he  main- 
tained, in  many  other  parts  of  his  Tracts,  that  "Cape  Mendocino 
(near  the  4Oth  parallel)  is  the  farthest  land  discovered,"  and 
"the  farthermost  known  land." 

In  the  Life  of  Sir  Francis  Drake,  published  in  1750,  in 
the  Biographia  Britannica,  the  opinion  that  he  discovered  the 
American  coast  to  the  48th  degree  was  again  brought  forward, 
and  it  has  been  since  admitted  generally  by  British  writers. 
Burvey,  who  has  examined  the  question  at  length  in  his  History 
of  Voyages  in  the  South  Sea,  published  in  1803,  pronounces  that 
"the  part  of  the  coast  discovered  by  Drake  is  to  be  reckoned  as 
beginning  immediately  to  the  north  of  Cape  Mendocino,  and 
extending  to  48  degrees  of  north  latitude,"  on  the  authority  of 
the  "World  Encompassed,"  especialy  of  the  assertion  in  that 
narrative  that  the  "English  searched  the  coast  diligently  even 
unto  the  48th  degree,  yet  they  found  not  the  land  to  trend  so 
much  as  one  point,  in  any  place,  towards  the  east."  Burney, 
however,  with  his  usual  want  of  candor,  omits  to  quote  the 
remainder  of  the  sentence — "but  rather  running  on  continually 
northwest,  as  if  it  went  directly  to  meet  with  Asia,"  Hell  know- 
ing that  it  destroyed  the  value  of  the  evidence  in  the  first  part, 
for  the  west  coast  of  America  nowhere,  between  ihe  4Oth  and 
the  48th  degrees  of  latitude,  runs  northwest,  its  course  being 
nearly  due  north.  Lastly,  Barrow,  in  his  Life  and  Times  of  Sir 
Francis  Drake,  which  appeared  in  1843,  presents  his  hero  as 
the  discoverer  of  the  west  coast  of  America  from  the  38th  to 
the  48th  parallels,  without  giving  the  slightest  intimation  that 
any  doubt  on  the  subject  had  ever  existed  or  could  exist. 

To  conclude,  the  "World  Encompassed"  is  the  only  direct 
authority  for  the  belief  that  Drake,  in  1579,  discovered  the  west 
coast  of  America  as  far  north  as  the  48th  degree  of  latitude. 
In  examining  the  particulars  of  that  account,  we  find  that,  be- 
tween the  ist  and  the  5th  of  June,  in  two  days,  the  English 
vessel  sailed  through  six  degrees  of  latitude,  northward,  with 
the  wind  blowing  constantly  and  violently  from  that  very  quarter 
— a  rate  of  sailing  which  could  scarcely  be  obtained  at  the  pres- 
ent time  under  similar  circumstances.  We,  moreover,  learn, 

17 


that,  during  the  whole  period  in  which  the  latitudes  are  given 
thus  positively,  the  heavens  were  obscured  by  thick  fogs,  and 
the  vessel  constantly  agitated  by  storms,  in  either  of  which  cases 
alone,  no  observations  worthy  of  reliance  could  have  been  made 
with  the  instruments  then  in  use.  When  we  also  take  into  con- 
sideration the  direct  falsehoods,  in  the  same  narrative,  respect- 
ing the  cold  in  that  part  of  the  Pacific,  which  is  represented  as 
so  intense,  during  the  months  of  June  and  July,  that  meat  was 
frozen  as  soon  as  taken  from  the  fire,  and  ropes  and  sails  were 
stiffened  by  ice,  we  may  safely  conclude  that  further  evidence  is 
requisite  to  establish  the  certainty  that  Drake,  in  1579,  saw  any 
part  of  the  west  coast  of  North  America  which  had  not  been 
seen  by  the  Spaniards  in  1543. 


U.  S.  COAST  AND  GEODETIC  SURVEY  OF  PACIFIC 
COAST.— COAST  PILOT  OF  OREGON,  CALI- 
FORNIA, ETC.,  4TH  EDITION,  1889. 

By  George  Davidson,  pp.   194,   195. 
DRAKE'S    BAY. 

"The  bay  was  formerly  known  as  Sir  Francis  Drake's  Bay. 
This  is  the  Puerto  de  San  Francisco  of  the  Spaniards  as  far 
back  as  1595.  It  has  been  a  question  whether  Sir  Francis  Drake 
anchored  and  "trimmed"  his  ship  in  this  bay  or  in  San  Francisco 
Bay ;  a  careful  weighing  of  evidence  is  clearly  adverse  to  its 
being  in  the  latter.  (See  remarks  on  San  Francisco  and  also  see 
"Early  voyages  of  discovery  and  exploration  on  the  northwest 
coast  of  America  from  1539  to  1603";  Superintendent's  Annual 
Report,  Appendix  No.  7,  1886.) 

The  Nicasio  Indians  are  said  to  have  a  tradition  that  Drake 
landed  at  Drake's  Bay.  He  left  a  dog,  some  pigs,  seeds  of  sev- 
eral kinds  of  grain,  and  some  biscuits,  which  the  natives  planted ! 
Some  of  his  men  deserted,  and  mixed  with  the  tribes  adjacent. 
On  an  old  Spanish  chart  there  is  a  little  indentation  of  the 
coast-line  about  the  latitude  of  Point  Reyes  which  is  designated 
"Bahia  de  S.  Francisco  Drak." 

18 


CHETCO    RIVER   AND    ANCHORAGE. 
(Page  363.) 

"Sir  Francis  Drake  approached  the  coast  of  California  on 
the  3d  of  June,  1579,  about  latitude  42  deg.  and  sailed — two 
(  /^Joagu'cs  farther  ( ?in  the  same  latitude)  until  June  5th,  when  the 
winds  drove  the  vessel  towards  the  shore  which  thev  first  de- 
scribed, and  anchored  in  a  bay  much  exposed  to  the  winds  and 
flaws,  and  when  they  ceased  there  instantly  followed  thick, 
stinking  fogs,  which  nothing  but  the  wind  could  remove,  and 
that  was  always  violent."  Of  course  it  may  be  questioned 
whether  the  bay  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Chetco  or  as  far  north 
as  Port  Orford.  Nevertheless,  an  examination  of  the  narrative 
and  of  the  Hondius  map  of  1595,  leave  little  or  no  doubt  in  the 
matter,  especially  as  the  map  has  the  Saint  George's  Reef  laid 
down  just  under  the  latitude  where  he  anchored.  The  geograph- 
ical position  of  the  extremity  of  Chetco  Point  is  Lat.  42  deg.  02 
min.  34  sec. 


DRAKE  AND  THE  TUDOR  NAVY. 

By  J.  S.  Corbett,  1898,  Vol.   i,  p.  306,  note. 

"The  authorized  narrative,  Molyneux,  and  John  Drake  all 
give  48  deg.  as  the  highest  latitude  reached.  Molyneux,  how- 
ever, is  not  a  high  authority.  Though  he  professes  to  mark- 
Drake's  course  on  his  globe,  it  is  very  inaccurately  done  and  he 
did  not  even  know  how  to  spell  Drake's  name.  He  writes  it 
Draek  in  the  Dutch  fashion,  although  it  was  after  his  knighthood. 
Pretty  gives  43  deg.  As  we  have  seen,  he  also  is  a  bad  authority, 
but  Professor  Davidson,  of  the  United  States  Coast  and  Geodetic 
Survey  and  author  of  the  Coast  Pilot  for  California,  etc.,  the 
most  learned  authority  on  the  point,  inclines  to  believe  he  is 
right  (see  report,  1886,  app.  No.  7,  and  his  Identification  of 
Sir  Francis  Drake's  Anchorage,  etc.).  He  grounds  his  opinion, 
as  he  kindly  informs  me,  on  the  fact  that  Drake  on  June  3 
reached  42  deg.,  and  that  when  he  struck  the  cold  nor 'wester 
he  could  not  have  beaten  up  against  it  to  48  deg.  "in  two  days 

19 


from  June  3  to  5."  But  here  there  seems  a  misapprehension. 
The  cold  did  not  come  on  till  the  "night  following"  their  reach- 
ing 42  deg.,  and  was  not  unendurable  till  they  had  sailed  two 
degrees  higher  (authorized  narrative).  Drake  after  this  encour- 
aged them  to  proceed,  and  it  was  not  till  the  5th  that  the  wind 
came  northwest  and  they  gave  it  up.  As  they  had  sailed  on  an 
average  thirty  leagues  a  day  since  leaving  Guatulco  (i.  e.  1400 
leagues  from  April  16  to  June  3),  there  is  no  reason  why  they 
should  not  sail  with  a  fair  wind  six  degrees,  i.  e.  120  leagues, 
from  June  3  to  5  inclusive.  Professor  Davidson  also  relies  on 
Hondius'  map.  Off  California  Hondius  places  an  asterisk  with 
this  note:  "Hie  prae  injenti  frigore  in  Austrum  reverti  coactus. 
Lat.  42  die  5  Junii."  The  asterisk,  writes  the  professor,  is 
marked  "at  the  northwest  terminus  of  a  reef,  the  "Dragon  Rocks" 
of  Vancouver,  in  lat.  42  deg.  49  min.  This,  again,  seems  to  be 
a  mistake.  The  asterisk  is  placed  not  at  the  end  of  a  reef  (the 
map  is  much  too  small  to  show  one),  but  well  out  to  sea  at 
the  end  of  a  row  of  dots  that  represent  Drake's  course.  "This," 
the  professor  continues,  "confirms  the  several  assertions  that  he 
reached  43  deg.  and  that  he  found  his  anchorage  in  42  deg." 
But  Hondius  expressly  says  he  was  turned  back  in  42  deg.,  not 
in  43  deg.  The  only  original  authority  for  the  43  deg.  is  Pretty. 
Dudley,  who  professes  to  have  had  it  from  Drake,  in  his  Arcano 
del  Mare,  1647,  places  the  anchorage  in  43  deg.  30  min.  There 
seems  then  to  be  no  authority  whatever,  not  even  Hondius,  for 
the  professor's  identification  of  the  anchorage,  as  at  Chetco  Bay 
under  Cape  Ferrels  in  42  deg.  01  min. 


ORIGINAL  NARRATIVES  OF  EARLY  AMERICAN  HIS- 
TORY.—EARLY  ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH 
VOYAGES. 

By  H.   S.   Burrage,  New  York,   1906. 

Note  on  page  155.  "Professor  George  Davidson,  of  the 
United  States  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  after  a  careful  study 
of  the  narrative  and  the  coast  (voyages  of  discovery  and  ex- 
ploration on  the  northwest  coast  of  America  from  1539  to 

20 


1603,  Washington,  Government  Printing  Office,  1887,  pp.  214- 
218),  identifies  the  harbor  entered  by  Drake  with  Drake's  Bay. 
under  Point  Reyes,  about  thirty  miles  north  of  San  Francisco. 
''Drake's  Bay,"  he  says,  "is  a  capital  harbor  in  northwest  winds, 
such  as  Drake  encountered.  It  is  easily  entered,  sheltered  bv 
high  lands,  and  a  vessel  may  anchor  in  three  fathoms,  close 
under  the  shore  in  good  holding  ground — If  he  had  been  in- 
side the  Estero  Limantour,  of  which  he  could  not  have  detected 
the  entrance  from  his  vessel,  he  would  necessarily  have  been 
very  close  to  either  shore.  And  had  he  seen  it,  he  would  not 
have  dared  to  enter  it  without  sounding  it  out.  It  has  only 
thirteen  feet  of  water  on  the  bar  at  the  highest  tides,  and  he 
would  not  have  hazarded  his  vessel  in  entering  such  a  doubtful 
anchorage.  Nor  would  he  have  risked  the  possibility  of  attack 
from  the  Indians  in  such  a  contracted  place.  He  doubtless 
anchored  in  Drake's  Bay,  and  the  reef  in  his  plan  represents 
in  a  crude  manner  the  reef  of  the  eastermost  point  of  Point 
Reyes  Head.  In  a  rough  sketch  of  his  anchorage  it  is  called 
Portus  Novae  Albionis. 

On  the  other  hand  Edward  Everett  Hale,  in  his  Citical  Essay 
on  Drake's  Bay,  in  Winsor's  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of 
America,  Vol.  iii.,  p.  74-78,  identifies  the  "convenient  and  fit 
harbor,"  which  Drake  entered,  with  San  Francisco  Bay.  The 
consensus  of  opinion  among  scholars  on  the  Pacific  Coast  at 
the  present  time,  however,  is  said  to  be  in  favor  of  Drake's  Bay, 
and  such  is  also  the  view  expressed  by  Mr.  Corbett  in  his 
"Drake  and  the  Tudor  Navy." 

FINIS. 


21 


TRANSLATION  OF  FOREGOING  GERMAN  AND 
FRENCH  EXTRACTS. 

Mr.  William  Friedlander,  jeweler  and  occulist,  of  Portland, 
Oregon,  has  kindly  furnished  me  with  the  following  English 
of  De  Bry's  German,  and  of  Duflot  de  Mofras's  French: 

(Page  348.)  "After  this  they  sailed  from  the  i6th  of  April 
to  the  3d  of  June.  On  the  5th  of  June  they  found  themselves 
under  the  42  degree  northern  latitude,  in  such  a  cold  temperature 
that  his  people  could  not  stand  it,  and  so  they  found  themselves 
obliged  to  find  land.  They  found  a  level  land,  but  as  it  was  en- 
tirely covered  with  snow,  they  did  not  land  there,  but  sailed  down 
to  the  38  degree,  where  they  found  a  nice  bay,  and  they  cast 
anchor." 

(Page  442.)  "On  the  iyth  of  February,  1579,  they  found 
themselves  before  Acapulco — in  New  Spain — from  there  after 
sailing  a  long  time  they  came  to  the  43  degree  N.  L.,  where 
they  met  such  severe  cold  weather  that  they  could  keep  warm 
only  with  great  effort.  After  that  they  came  to  a  very  nice  bay 
of  America  (called  New  Albion)  under  the  38  degree." 

FROM    THE    FRENCH. 

"In  1579  Sir  Francis  Drake  appeared  on  the  coast  of  'New 
Spain'  and  after  having  devastated  the  coast  of  Guatemala  he 
sailed  straight  north  up  to  the  45  or  46  degree.  Nearing  land 
he  landed  in  a  small  bay  which  he  does  not  describe  further  and 
where  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  stay.  He  found  himself 
compelled  to  go  back  to  Port  Reyes,  situated  between  the  ports 
of  San  Francisco  and  Bodega.  Drake  did  not  know  anything 
about  the  last  two,  although  he  arrived  there  37  years  later  than 
'Cabrillo.'  The  English  were  not  afraid  to  name  this  whole 
country  'New  Albion,'  trying  by  this  to  claim  the  honor  of  its 
discovery." 

"He  reached  the  N.  W.  coast  of  America  and  sailed  up  to 
the  48  degree  N.  up  to  where  no  Spanish  navigator  had  reached, 
and  sailed  near  the  coast,  and  sailing  down  again  to  the  37th 
degree,  at  3814  degree  he  discovered  a  port  where  he  remained 

22 


some  time  and  which  has  retained  his  name.  He  named  the 
whole  country  'New  Albion'  and  took  possession  of  it  in  the 
name  of  'Elizabeth'." 


Notes  by  R.  M.  B.  Juan  Rodrigues  Cabrillo  sailed  from  the 
Port  de  Navidad  (modern  Port  au  Prince)  of  the  Island  of 
Haiti,  on  the  27th  of  June,  1543,  and  reached  the  coast  of  Cali- 
fornia and  Oregon  in  March,  1544:  he  was  really  the  first  dis- 
coverer of  that  coast.  He  coasted  it  as  far  north  as  Lat.  44  deg. 
He  gave  the  name  Mendocino  to  the  cape  in  honor  of  his  patron 
who  sent  him,  Mendosa,  the  first  Viceroy  of  New  Spain.  He 
described  the  mountains  around  the  cape  as  covered  with  snow : 
he  placed  it  in  Lat.  40  deg.  N.,  which  is  very  near  what  it  is. 
He  missed  finding  San  Francisco  Bay  on  his  first  voyage  in  1544 
and  again  in  his  second  voyage  in  1545.  Near  the  parallel  of 
San  Francisco  Bay  he  saw  some  hills  covered  with  trees,  which 
he  called  Port  of  San  Martin. 

In  Lat.  40  deg.  N.  he  met  with  such  extreme  cold  in  March 
that  he  had  to  return  south.  This  was  35  years  before  Drake's 
voyage  through  the  same  latitudes ;  so  that  though  Drake  found 
the  cold  so  severe  in  the  beginning  of  June  between  43  deg.  and 
48  deg.  latitude,  it  may  be  that  Greenhow's  criticism  about  the 
cold  experienced  is  not  a  just  one.  It  may  be  that  a  much 
colder  cycle  prevailed  in  those  latitudes  in  the  sixteenth  century 
than  what  has  been  known  by  white  men  since.  It  may  be  that 
the  Japan  gulf  stream  had  a  more  western  direction  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  which  would  have  made  the  coast  climate  of 
Oregon  and  Northern  California  colder.  Earthquakes  and  alter- 
ations therefrom  in  the  level  of  the  ocean  bed  would  probably 
cause  diversions  in  the  general  course  of  this  stream. 

San  Francisco  Bay  was  not  discovered  by  the  Spaniards  until 
1769,  when  an  exploring  party  (probably  originating  from  Cibola, 
now  located  in  Western  New  Mexico)  travelling  overland,  dis- 
covered the  southern  and  eastern  shores  of  this  Bay.  But  it  was 
not  until  1776  (195  years  after  Drake's  visit)  that  the  Spaniards 
discovered  the  connexion  of  the  Bay,  at  the  Golden  Gate,  with 
the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  description  given  in  Hakluyt  of  Drake's  landing  in  Cali- 
23 


fornia,  and  of  his  friendly  relations  with  the  Indians  forms  one 
of  the  most  pleasing  episodes  in  the  historical  records  of  Anglo- 
American  relations. 

It  describes  the  then  habitations  of  the  Indians ;  as  being  round 
holes  or  dug-outs  covered  with  earth,  rushes  (tules)  and  grass ; 
the  entrance  to  which  was  made  "slopous  like  the  skuttle  to  a 
ship."  It  tells  about  the  thousands  of  deer  he  saw ;  the  vast  num- 
bers of  "coneys"  or  pouched  rats  (gophers  and  ground  squirrels), 
the  whole  country  being  "a  warren  of  them."  It  relates  his  won- 
der at  seeing  so  many  wild  horses,  because  he  had  heard  that  the 
Spaniards  had  found  no  native  horses  in  America ;  save  those  of 
the  Arab  breed  which  they  had  introduced. 

At  the  time  of  Drake's  visit,  the  farthest  points  north  on  land 
that  the  Spaniards  had  reached  were  Cibola  in  New  Mexico  and 
the  Sonora  region  of  Mexico.  These  regions  had  been  explored 
by  Juan  Vasques  de  Coronado  with  a  small  cavalry  troop  in 
IS41 5  38  years  prior  to  Drake's  landing  in  1579. 

The  late  greatly  esteemed  Oregonian,  Thomas  Condon,  Ph. 
D.  of  the  State  University  at  Eugene,  has  furnished  us  a  most 
interesting  description  of  the  very  ancient  progenitors  of  the 
present  native  Oregon  horse — the  cayuse — in  his  charming  book, 
"The  Two  Islands  and  What  Came  of  Them,"  (printed  by  the 
Irwin-Hodson  Co.  and  published  by  the  J.  K.  Gill  Co.,  of  Port- 
land), which  seems  fully  to  explain  why  Drake  found  native 
horses  in  California. 


24 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  AT  LOS  ANGELES 

THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


> 

I  \ 


g  ~ 


^TO-SOl^ 


™«A«Y  llBRARY0A       ^HIBRARYi 

OF  CALffORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
ThU  book  b  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


NGN-RENPBLI 


<A\\E-UNIVER%        .vlOSA 

I    1^1  I 

I     l^T^I  3 


